Misc. Information[]
This information is in need of sorting.
Infodump[]
Language: Saldemot
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Red hair is most common in the italo-regions of Aridefort and Assezfourni, but it's still rather uncommon, and ranges from dull to bright.
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There are taxes, and they are based on land or house, rather than income, because the royal treasurers have, over the years, come to appreciate a steady income rather than one that fluctuates.
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Most often, if a person does not have a horse, they will walk. Cows tend to be used mostly by Assezfourni citizens, who want to get a little more use out of their cattle. The country is rather small, so the only difference is a week or two of travel, in most cases.
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As for other name schemes, the main island is French, the south half of the mainland (Aridefort and Assezfourni) is Italian, the mountain regions (Hauteflamme and Highpoint) are Spanish, and Icesog is Germanic/Scandinavian.
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As for life expectancy, it depends greatly on location and lifestyle. The wealthy live longer, of course, and the common folk who live in, say, Icesog, rarely make it to thirty-five. A wealthy man from Axevrai or Highpoint could live up to eighty if he lives a healthy lifestyle, and a farmer in Assezfourni who does the same and visits the Temple of Light when he becomes ill can live up to ninety.
In regards to married life, the wife takes care of her husband and the pair try to have babies. Sometimes if the wife is not matured enough, she'll die during childbirth. This is not entirely uncommon.
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I think "m" might be best. The forest isn't colored in, because I didn't have all this information when I made the map, but we can imagine it's there. *grins* Does that work for you? There is a port in that region, but it's primary use is the lumber industry. Let's put their main home in the port city itself. It's a somewhat dirty place that smells of ocean, dead fish, and tar, but it's also the best place to live if you're in the lumber industry.
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Hm. Combs are most commonly made of metal, since wood is not a common material. Bone is also an option, but far less commonly used, because it's not always easy to find large enough bones. *nods* However, since her mother was a fairy, it's entirely possible that she has a wooden one that was made without cutting any wood at all.
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No, Juliette is not a Treestand. XD I mentioned them because the treestands are in Vraitrasse, and I was introducing one of the major events that's in progress there, to give you a little insight into that small region.
Jean is a very common name in Saldecla, just like Claude. :I I also may have forgotten that I already used Jean with Baron Treestand when I named Daddy Dupre. Jaime is from a Feytout barony, yes, not a Vraitrasse barony.
She'll know him, yes. He calls her goat-girl because he's bad with names and has, if he ever learned her name, forgotten it. He's notorious for doing that, even to those he cares about. For the most part, people are understanding, since they've put up with it since he learned to speak.
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There are two mountains is Vraitrasse, and they separate it from the rest of the island. It's tundra-like, but it isn't QUITE as cold as Icesog. Very close, though. The weather is rather crazy-- lots of storms and the like because the cold air-mass interacts with the high-flowing heat from the south in cray cray ways.
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Also, I'm just going to assume that there are rocks/stone lying around in Vraitrasse since it's a mountainous area. It has no beaches because the land ends in steep cliffs near the sea?
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The main difference between Icesog and Vraitrasse is elevation. Vraitrasse is very high up, and situated on some sheer cliffs. It's the foothills of the mountains that once went from their current position, out beyond the islands.
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GOATS in Vraitrasse. You know, I know nothing about goats. >3>; To the googles!
Ok, these goats look about right. Alpine goats.
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Aye, the goats are edible. They can likely make some coarse yarn, but they won't be very soft. As for natives, there's quite a few animal species. Horses, cows, otters, birds, insects, rodents, the odd beaver, cats, dogs, goats, donkeys, sheep, lizards, snakes... the list goes on. But yeah, pretty much, animals of Europe exist in Saldecla.
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We can say the baron bought five, and three are among the stolen. ;D
As for a source of light, it won't be needed beyond the passage-- it's just to help them avoid tripping over each other and any uneven stones. Also, to someone of Emile's birth, he'd have seen Rays in shops growing up, and had plenty of time to study them.
Emile can easily have a level 2 Blaze book, if that's what you mean. Level two is for someone who's had basic training in how to cast spells, and practice with the spell from the book. The spells are still listed under bloodlines on the profile. ;D
In combat situations, books are carried in a holster at the hip. They can only hold two or three books this way before it's too much.
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Claude learned from his father and from the duke's library. *nods* Once a person knows the basics, it's not hard to figure out the rest with study on one's own, but it's easy with a teacher who knows their stuff.
It's even possible to learn it on one's own, but it's quite difficult, since used copies of spell books usually have a bunch of scribbled notes all over.
I think Damon's just trying to pop Emile's bubble at this point. XD Trying.
Juliette's just trying to guage Emile. ;D
Aye, such books are available. In fact, any student who's been to the various academies has had a turn copying books. That's how Saldecla has so many of the damn things. ---
Vraitrasse is the most overgrown duchy, though as one goes farther north in it, there is a permafrost that prevents trees, leaving a stark field around the duke's castle. Insane weather often destroys any chances of going out of doors during spring and fall.
Because of the rocky nature of Vraitrasse's land, the forest floors are very uneven, and there are no places where the trees will fully block out the sun.
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Yep, most people live in the south, in or near the two barony-cities, which are on the opposite end of the duchy from the castle.
However, every so often the barons do an employment drive for the duke so he can get some fresh servants. It's a lifelong job, more often than not, simply because he pays well. Because of this, no first-borns or family heads are allowed to go, nor anyone who is vital to the baronies. Sometimes this causes there to be nobody to go to the duke's home to keep it clean.
Insane weather ranges from cool, nice days to sudden ice storms, tornadoes, thunder storms, snow storms, hail, and sometimes combinations.
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The hag's castle is a single castle with high towers, located on the coast of the Saldeclan Channel. It's long-abandoned, and has been since the day the Hero of Light destroyed the hag.
As for the tax, the people are compliant, since they are very wealthy because of their lumber exports. Lumber is a high-value item in Saldecla, along with food.
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Something not mentioned on the Saldecla page: the money is all made up of small gold coins, the size of a woman's fingernail, and quite thin. They're each stamped with the Kinguard's seal on one side, and a portrait on the other. There are no other coinages, because gold is very easy to get if a person simply goes into the mountains.
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The duchy you're thinking of is Axevrai, which has no ports. Feytout has a large port and a smaller one, and Vraitrasse has a minuscule port. Axevrai has no ports, for the sake of protection. That is where the country's capital is, after all.
They could be sent simply to help the army, or they could be sent to Vraitrasse to deal with monsters locally, since monsters are a major problem in that duchy.
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The army is extremely organized, since it's run by the very order-obsessed Duke Achille of Aridefort. Someone from out of the Feytout duchy could get rich there, because the lumber trade is so big, and the foremen are so angry, that they're constantly hiring, and the pay is pretty high.
Military enlistment term: 5 years.
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Women are viewed as less capable than men, but are treated respectfully, for the most part. A queen in the past made sure there was some progress on that front, when she reflected on her own youth, and how little freedom she had. Law enforcers are typically either bounty hunters or guardsmen, and while the former is not trusted, the latter is seen as almost knightly in trustworthiness. People from rural areas are very wealthy, since most are farmers, and food is scarce more often than not. They keep their lands tidy. The exception is Icesog, which is a haven for murderers, rapists, pirates, and more.
On the topic of the poor, they tend to migrate to Icesog or Vraitrasse, or are either encouraged to move there, or given jobs. Their treatment depends on personality. For the most part, Saldeclans are a very unity-oriented people, and will try to help those in need. Those poor that migrate tend to be untrusting of law enforcement, while those hired by the wealthy view the law enforcement as a necessity they don't mind dealing with.
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As for dark-skinned people, the desert people have slightly darker skin because of the harsh sun. The older the family, the darker the skin.
A family can be wealthy and own land if they're not a baron, but they can't own much of it, because land is expensive everywhere but Icesog, where the land is mostly under a foot or more of marsh water.
The criminals of Vraitrasse mostly have to either compete with goblins, or are quickly ostracised. There are a few gangs of criminals that were bad enough to be banished from both baronies there.
Farming in Vraitrasse is difficult because of the cold weather, so it's highly impractical to try farming a large plot. Most people chose subsistence, but sometimes a brave soul petitions the duke and gets permission to clear some land for a larger plot. Usually it doesn't work out, and the wilderness reclaims the would-be farm land.
The dark green is forest, and the light green is plains. I don't have altitude labeled quite yet, but on the main island, the north end ends in high cliffs, like the mountain range was chopped off and dropped down right in the middle, and the south end has sandy beaches and is hilly.
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Goblins attack in an effort to get food. They don't have the tools or knowledge to grow food, and hunting in their territories is scarce. Criminals would have a hard time living in the two Vraitrasse baronies, because each is very small-- only the size of a small town. Every citizen would be well aware.
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As far as pets, there are otters, cats, dogs, rats, mice, horses, cows, chickens, goats, and sometimes birds. Otters live in the northern, soggy regions, but aren't unheard of in Vraitrasse. Cats and dogs are rather plentiful. Rats and mice are plentiful, but not many people make pets of them. Horses are kept for riding, while cows are seen with high affection because they're gentle and provide milk, as well as meat once they get old enough to stop giving milk. Chickens are kept as pets, but also as emergency rations, by many. Goats are loved by the poorer folk who live in the mountains, and birds who are left by their parents are sometimes raised by bored people who don't have enough to occupy their time.
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The worship of Light is a very casual religion. There aren't many rituals, it's not a huge public ordeal (save in Assezfourni), and most of the time, it's just an old man and a young man (his apprentice) living there, tending to it, and donating all but what they need to live to charity by serving food to those in need, paying for rooms at local inns, buying healing for those in need, and that sort of thing.
Monsters and Blood[]
Aridefort and Hauteflamme have the highest dark bloodline concentration, for anyone who is interested in that tidbit. The highest concentration of light bloodline is Feytout, Assezfourni, and Axevrai.
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Fairy blood is typically found exclusively in Feytout, and almost entirely in the duke's family. I'm not sure if I've mentioned it here before, but most fairy-blooded are directly related to the duke of Feytout because of a pact that took place in the distant past. As long as there is fairy blood in the Faepact family, there will be no logging of the Fairy Forest.
It's possible for others to have offspring with fairies, however. Adventurers are capable of having their way with a fairy, or the fairy could consent to a pure-hearted traveller who falls in love with them. It varies based on fairy and prospective partner. Fairies are a female-only race, however, and care for young as a community. They become easily depressed when away from other females. This trait is not carried down to half-humans, save in the Faepact family, where the blood is very prominent.
In the wild, fairies breed using flowers, and only have sex parts as leftovers from evolution.
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Goblins live up to one hundred fifty years, harpies live only twenty-five, slimes don't have a known life expectancy because of how they grow... Giant vermin live up to fifty years. Fairies age only rarely, and only when a new full-blood is born (very rare).
Half-blooded humans tend to have a life expectancy that is between human and the other race that shares their blood.
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Most common dark bloodline monsters are... wow, ok, they're pretty uncommon. Ok, witches will breed with humans, giant vermin will if in heat, and the undead from the graveyard near the Hag's Castle... the undead are most likely of all, because they still have living urges-- eating, fucking, and shitting.
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On that line, undead are naturally occuring. If a dead body is in a location where a powerfully magical monster, like a witch, lives, it'll rise. Depending on the burial (or lack thereof), it'll be a mummy, zombie, skeleton, or ghost.
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I doubt the villagers would like them any better. Goblins can't clean themselves well because they lack the surplus of fresh water that humans take control of immediately upon finding. 8D Humans are the reasons goblins are stanky.
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Typically, humans don't eat monsters that speak, since... well, talking food tends to make them a tad nervous.
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That... sounds about right, actually. They keep nothing of their humanity, and become very aggressive. So... in places like the Graveyard of the Giant, you get a bunch of angry, magical, and very dead things chasing people around and trying to kill them.
Goblins and Orcs speak the same language, same for the Lutin. They speak the language of the humans as well as the goblin language, though the goblin language is dying because of its complexity, in favor of the human language. Goblins have a sense of smell twice that of a human, while orcs have half the sense of smell of a human.
The goats are more than likely going to throw a fit, because goblins smell of dead things from killing shit, and don't wash often. ;D Fufufu.
But likely, she would have at least seen a goblin before, hidden or in the distance. They often 'visit' human settlements in hopes of getting food or other necessities.
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Feytout was formed not long after Vraitrasse. It's first duke was a close friend of the third king, and performed a great service to him. He was given the duchy, and it became a punishment more than a reward once he tried to start logging the fairy forest. The family was without a name until one of their young family members went into fairy forest unarmed. It's said he emerged with a fairy wife, and he immediately killed a logger and threatened death on any others who logged the forest. When asked where they would get wood, he said to plant trees on the other side of the duchy, and it could be harvested as needed. They're an honorable family, and the Light Blood from the fairy wife runs deep. They usually have long, pointed ears and bright hair colors, with eyes that have very large pupils and narrow irises. It's rumored that they renew the pact of marriage every several generations.
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Hint: try imagining SUPER long ears, monochrome body, insectoid eyes, antenna, and no clothes. (fairies)
Rights[]
Saldecla is a country where people have the right to try to improve their standing in the world by innate talents and hard work. These rights came from when Queen Camille Kinguard the First, often given the unofficial hero title "Softhearted" for her political activities, ruled. Before then, the rights were not law, but simply a rare practice by those who leaned toward the worship of the Light.
If the wife doesn't wish to have children, her husband has the option of finding a different wife and having the marriage annulled by either the king (nobility) or the local nobility (commons).
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A wife is not required to submit to an abusive husband, and can leave him to seek shelter among family while she tries to get the marriage annulled.
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Serfdom does not exist in Saldecla, and slavery is highly illegal. Any slaves captured during raids in the desert are sold in the neighboring People's Republic.
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"Fey" is used to say a person looks fairy-blooded and acts feminine. It stems from how all fairies are female, and tend to romance each other regardless, just for the sake of fun.
Mainstream culture just doesn't HAVE the concept of homosexuality in their minds, because most who ARE tend to still pursue the opposite gender, because that's the norm. The concept simply doesn't exist, save as a 'strangeness in youth'.
Because it isn't a concept that exists beyond in a person's dreams and fantasies, and inside the fairy forest, orientation equality is pretty much a null concept.
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Saldecla is a very non-LBGT country, simply because the concepts don't occur to the people there. There are gays and lesbians, but they will pursue someone of the opposite gender, simply because that is what they expect of themselves.
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The forest of Vraitrasse is left uncut because the law of Vraitrasse states that there must be a place for monsters to inhabit, supposedly to prevent land conflicts between monsters and humans.
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Illegal activities: Murder, rape, chopping wood in Feytout without a permit, dealing with monsters in ways that don't involve killing them or otherwise sending them away... Things like that.
Tax evasion is highly illegal, and punishment is usually meted out by the local baron if it's committed by a commoner, and the local duke or even the king if a noble does it.
Exotic animal trading is a black market thing, and highly illegal, because it's a major health risk if even one foreign animal brings disease.
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Currently, technology in Saldecla is pretty simple. They have no guns at all. Cannons are extremely rare. War machines are pretty much unheard of save along the Hauteflamme and Aridefort borders. Medicine is taken care of by caster priests or 'healers-by-knife', who don't use magic, but know basic surgery and a lot of herbal medicine.
There are four academies in Saldecla: the military academy in Aridefort, the academy of arts in Hauteflamme, the royal academy in Roi Saldecla, and the academy of the sciences in Highpoint. Aridefort's academy turns out soldiers and officers; Hauteflamme's turns out artists, writers, musicians, and bards; the Royal Academy churns out master tradesmen, master merchants, and politicians; and the last teaches magic and medicine.
As for how educated the average person might be, it depends entirely on location. Most Icesog people can't read or write, and can count up to ten, while nearly everybody in Aridefort and Axevrai can both read, write, do math, and know the country's history.
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Border crossings vary by region. Most have their borders open, or at least simply watched. The border between Vraitrasse and Axevrai can only be safely crossed through two places, and each is watched on the Axevrai side, because criminals are known to flee to Vraitrasse. The Vraitrasse duke keeps his borders open, because he doesn't see the point. People coming to his duchy have a hard enough time without undue regulations.
The army doesn't actively enlist, save in Aridefort. A person can walk up to a guard and ask about it, and they're directed to various places to get their affairs in order and prepare for the trip to either one of the training compounds scattered throughout Saldecla, or if they're lucky, the academy in Aridefort.
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On the topic of orphans and unwanted children:
Hm. I'm thinking for Hauteflamme, they would have a foster care system. They're a very warm people, so they wouldn't abide sending children off to a home. That's more likely in Highpoint, although they'll be privately-run and only the most promising kids get in good with the caretakers. In Icesog, orphans fend for themselves. There are also orphanages in Aridefort, run by the state so every child is treated fairly, although each must serve in the army for a period of two years after they become adults. The rest will deal with a fostering system, methinks.